Hiawatha Golf Course
Compact 18-Hole Golf Course
Planning Documents
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) Planning Group said that they had created some conceptual designs for an 18-hole compact golf course. At CAC meeting 6B they said that they would make these documents available to the CAC. In January, 2020 they said that they would not release these documents. So, we had to submit a Public Data Request to the MPRB to receive the documents.
It appears that the conceptual designs basically reversed many of the holes on the golf course, and also tried to push many tees and greens to the very perimeters of the property. It also appears that there was no compromise in these documents with regard to supporting 18 holes. That is, there is no attempt to potentially diminish the amount of property that would be flooded to allow more acreage for an 18-hole golf course. It was a limited exercise to support a pre-determined conclusion; that no 18-hole golf course could exist on the property with their proposed flooding of the property. We already knew that!
Most concerning is that the expectation for this property still appears to be having water levels on the golf course property at or above the current Lake Hiawatha water levels of 812.8 feet (considered normal) and 814.2 feet (considered high normal). The overlay directly shows that these water levels will bring the water across the street from the homes on the northwest corner of the golf course. We consider that this level of water will be devastating to the homes because 814 feet is higher than the bottoms of most of the basements in these homes. And, we have to consider that the water level of Lake Hiawatha over the past few years has consistently been at high normal (814 feet) during the summer.
One other consideration that is apparent from the water overlays is that there is likely not enough land available for a 9-hole golf course without major reconstruction of the property. Thus, the $60 million+ price tag???
The following are the planning documents provided to us: